


The Stepwell

by DustOnBothSides



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Armitage Hux is So Done, Blow Jobs, Blow Jobs on a Sith Altar, Force-Sensitive Armitage Hux, Kissing, M/M, Sith Rituals, Sith Witchcraft, Stepwell, start of a relationship, suddenly feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-27 06:50:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21387904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DustOnBothSides/pseuds/DustOnBothSides
Summary: Armitage Hux is dragged onto a desolate world, where Kylo Ren hopes to find answers. He finds something else instead, and it is up to Hux to save him... or kill him, just to get rid of the man. It should be easy, right? Because he hates Ren ...right?Enter Sith witchcraft.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 14
Kudos: 113





	The Stepwell

It was a very _Ren_-thing to do, Hux thought to himself as surveyed the beach. 

The illustrious Supreme Leader of the First Order had dragged him over to some long-abandoned Outer Rim world, where he promptly left him behind to chase after some force-related artefact. Five out of his six knights followed him, one remained to guard the command shuttle - and him as well, the General presumed. 

Half a day passed since then, and it was now morning. The planet didn’t look any more inviting than the day before. The lone Knight of Ren kept sitting in the same position as the previous night when Hux retired to his cot. The Knight still completely ignored him. Had this been any other person, Hux would’ve been outraged, but he didn’t want to associate himself with any force user if he could help it, and being treated the same way was actually quite a relief. 

There was no sight nor sound from the Supreme Leader yet, but Hux didn’t seriously believe he’d stay in contact. He didn’t think Ren would deem it necessary to report back to him. If anything, he most probably exchanged force-missives with the stationary pile of clothes and armour sitting next to the shuttle’s landing gear. 

Hux swallowed his frustrations over not being aboard of the _Finalizer_ where he belonged, and decided to go for a stroll. 

It was obvious that something bad had happened on this planet. 

There were traces of past inhabitation, but those were all falling apart. There were no cosmoports, no buildings, no comm-arrays. Just a cracked road and crumbling external walls resembling shells of cracked eggs from afar. Everything was grey and dull… but somehow it put Hux at ease. Though he would’ve much preferred being back on the Star Destroyer, there were certainly far worse places to be stranded at. 

He left the road to take a closer look at a beach covered with rough black gravel. The surf that washed over it every few moments was almost unnaturally white in comparison. Especially considering how dark the sky was. Quartz-grey clouds, puffy and towering, travelled across a gunmetal firmament. Slowly, gracefully. Without any apparent need to release their load. 

The air was rather warm. 

Hux closed his eyes and took a deep breath, appreciating the hint of brine it carried. Then he walked into the surf. He stopped some five steps below the tideline and watched as frothy seawater rushed over his feet, caressing his ankles protected by the waterproofed leather of his jackboots.

This brought out old, blurry memories of a similar ‘game’ he used to play back on Arkanis. He’d follow the receding surf, only to run away from it as it returned. Sometimes he slashed through the waves with a piece of driftwood, imagining it’s a red lightsaber like the one Darth Vader of Asajj Ventress had wielded, and pictured the waves as rows of Rebel fighters. He also used to pick empty sea-shells and stow them away in his little hiding place in a sea stack so that father wouldn’t chide him. Which he often did anyway, because being so small, Armitage tended to lose his balance and fall when pushed by an especially strong gust of wind; or when he stepped on a particularly soft patch of sand. Or a dead jellyfish. Or when he tripped over a piece of driftwood. 

Now that he thought about it, the sea was probably his only toy during the entirety of his short childhood. 

Oh, how he loved it… 

The present-time Hux frowned. He had an opportunity to visit the sea near Scaparus Port some four years ago. The beautiful, pearly-white cliffs and sea stacks had been levelled with the ground by stray missiles during the nascent New Republic’s bombardment of the Academy, and ruins of a _Victory_-class Star Destroyer littered the shoreline. 

By that time he had removed countless rivals, helped to subjugate dozens of worlds using weapons he himself had designed… and yet that sight still felt like a kick in the gut. 

He looked over _this_ shoreline. 

Though rather monochromatic, it had that austere charm which he much preferred over such garish world like Takodana or Kashyyyk. Things were… _simpler_ here. _Purer_. 

Suddenly he noticed something white in the fine sand washed ashore by the surf. Before he could think about what he was doing, he reached down and picked the object up. It was a white stone, shaped by the seas and sands into a rather odd, roundish shape. And it had a hole in the middle. 

As he reached for it, for a split of a second he thought he could see the reflection of his younger self, but that was just nonsense. He picked the stone up and put it to his eye. 

_ ‘You’ll see the world of fairies’_ a voice he painfully recognised but could not place whispered into his mind. 

It made him feel ashamed. 

He slipped the stone into his pocket and left the beach, as it made him too sentimental for his own good. 

He decided to take a closer look at the buildings next. 

It was evident they had been abandoned a very long time ago - one only had to look at the state of those walls. There were no sharp edges whatsoever. The wind had filed everything down into gentle curves, revealing the porous structure of pure concrete which hadn’t been used for over five hundred standard years. However. The walls themselves seemed rather odd. 

Hux knew he could blame neither the wind nor the rains for their strange, liquefied look. Each one of them had the appearance of a half-melted block of resin - which wasn’t possible unless someone made the effort to have the walls look like this. Who were the builders Hux did not know. From the material used he could tell it was humans or humanoid species - which wasn’t exactly specific.

Not that it mattered. 

He wasn’t interested in these buildings -or anything else the planet had to offer for that matter. 

But it _did_ surprise him that the trees were _like_ this was well. The trees of a grove or an orchard, which surrounded the ruins of the settlement. Each was covered by bulbous tumours which somehow became so grotesque, they resembled the overflowing gut of a morbidly obese human, coiled Mairan tentacles or disembowelled viscera. 

Hux stopped in front of an especially odd one, which reminded him of his father’s bloated face, frozen in a silent scream just before the man ceased to exist. He smirked as he recalled the short speech he had given during the man’s funeral. He hadn’t tried to look even remotely sad. No one would’ve believed it anyway. The tree was about as tall as an _Upsylon_-class shuttle, though it would’ve been much taller if it wasn’t all twisted and bent, like the backs of children from worlds primitive enough for scoliosis to still considered a valid danger. 

Having gotten his fill of tree-viewing, he walked on. Gravel crunched beneath the soles of his boots. There wasn’t any grass everywhere. Finding it odd, Hux tried to recall, whether he heard or saw any animal since his arrival - a distant flock of birds, a fly buzzing next to his ear, anything – but to no avail. This part of the planet seemed to be sterile save for those cancerous trees, and it was doubtful whether they themselves were actually alive. 

He passed another melted-down building, whose walls had the porous look of the underside of a mushroom, and noticed a huge hole in the ground just up ahead. Its edges were straight and sharp, as if drawn with the help of a ruler. He approached it, wondering what it was. Soon he saw the hole had the shape of an upside-down pyramid, and each of the four slanting walls, which were bone-white in colour, was fitted with a narrow flight of stairs, descending towards its pitch-black bottom framed by a thin ledge. 

He remembered seeing similar structures on old holos years ago. It was a stepwell. 

As this was his first time seeing one with his own two eyes, he decided to investigate. After all, he had little else to do, the Supreme Leader having confiscated his datapad for the duration of this _mission_ or whatever this undertaking was. 

When he drew closer, he noticed that the pale walls of the well were more bone-like than he had initially thought. Like the buildings he just passed, they were rough and porous, however here there was not a single trace of a curve anywhere. Everything was angular and straight. 

As for the square hole in the bottom, it was strangely alluring. This occurred to Hux as he started to carefully descend the steps, one by one. He also couldn’t help but notice that the temperature here was somewhat higher than anywhere else. Almost as if the heat was emanated by the walls themselves. He was tempted to take his glove off and touch the porous surface directly, but thought the better of it. A little voice in his head told him that this might not be a good idea. 

So he walked on. 

The black hole at the bottom grew more fascinating the closer he got. He wasn’t sure what its walls were made of, but they absorbed any and all light. Considering how dim the day was, that wasn’t much to say, but when not even the beam of his flashlight found anything to show, anything to reflect off, he knew he found something very strange. 

He stopped at the bottom of the well, squatted down on the ledge that was hardly wider than the length of his boot, leaned over the edge, and placing his hands on the ground to steady himself, he looked inside. The coarse surface of the floor dug into the leather of his gloves. He still could neither see nor smell anything. Only the quality of the air was different. It was even warmer here than higher up, but at the same time it was devoid of all humidity, which ruled out the likelihood of a geothermal spring. If anything, the air was dry. Very, _very_ dry. 

Hux stood up and gave the surrounding walls another scrutinising look, hoping to find a clue which would lift at least a tiny corner of the veil of mystery which shrouded the structure. There was nothing. The same _nothing_, characterising the rest of this place. No meanings, no answers. No point. It was mildly exasperating. 

Heaving a sigh, he got up again and began to climb back to the surface. A part of him wanted to stay, whispering sweet promises of a secret soon to be revealed. _If you stay **just a moment** longer, you’ll see something truly magnificent_. This voice sounded childish and not at all like the usual, reasonable voice of his mind, so he shrugged it off and climbed the last couple of steps. 

Once he was back up, he grabbed a fist-sized stone on a whim and tossed it. It traced an arc through the air and fell into the opening at the bottom of the well. There was still no sound whatsoever, but the noiseless disappearance of the rock was followed by a strange kid of movement. A pillar-like substance sluggishly emerged from the square hole, made an arc of its own, and disappeared. It looked like less dense than a liquid, yet more compact than gas. A conglomerate of black specks held together by an unseen force. 

_Force. _

Hux wondered whether some force-related shenanigans were in play here, and this alone made him lose his interest. 

He turned around and sauntered back to the shuttle. 

Ren was yet to return, there was still just that one knight, who was rocking back and forth gently, hands folded in his lap. 

Hux passed him without greetings and went to grab his flask of tea. 

Pouring himself half a cup, he returned outside to stand by the ramp. 

“…what a useless planet.” He sighed loudly enough for the knight to hear. 

There didn’t appear to be any resources here. Nothing was alive, nothing moved save for the surf and the wind which picked up, bringing the first hint of an upcoming rainfall. 

The knight slowly turned his head to look at him. _ (Finally - a reaction. Whoo.) _

“You…” an artificially sounding voice croaked. “…you _really_ can’t feel it? Not at all?”

“And what is it I am supposed to feel?”

There was a hiss, and the knight removed his helmet. He was shaved bald, though judging by his eyebrows, his hair must’ve been dirty blond. Hux thought he was a human at first, but then he noticed that each of his strikingly green eyes had two pupils. It didn’t surprise him. He expected Ren’s entourage to be… _different_. 

The knight stared at him and jerkily wiped the sweat from his clammy cheeks. His hands shook.

“You really don’t…? Not at all? Not even a hint?” He mumbled. 

“_You’re_ the force users, not me. What am I supposed to feel anyway?” Hux repeated his previous, unanswered question. 

The knight looked away and stared at his feet for a while. He wiped his head over and over again, as if he tried to rid himself of some impurity only he could feel. Hux could smell the sharp odour of his sweat, amplified by the general sterility of the planet. 

“The… the _hunger_. The _insanity_. The _want_. You think this place is dead and void of life, but it isn’t. It is not so, so much. The opposite is the truth. This place is _alive_, if you can even _call_ it _ ‘A Place’_. The rocks are its bones. The soil its flesh. It used to be many. Many people. Many beings. But they all became one with the land. Even the Nautolans and Mon Calamari. All of them. Sith magic. So sickening. Master should’ve never… Master… master…”

He furiously scratched his temple as he rocked back and forth. 

“And worst of all, they’re still alive. All of them. Unable to be killed. Forced to stay alive - forever.”

“Weren’t you people preoccupied with this Sith n- …with these Sith shenanigans?” Hux asked, swallowing the word _nonsense_. The man in front of him was clearly unhinged, and he didn’t want to end up with another set of broken ribs. 

“_No! _We study the dark side of the force. Armour ourselves with it. Use it as our spear, sword, mace -_ but we are not Siths and we never were_. It was a Sith witch who created this abomination. It happened over a thousand years ago, but those voices… their songs, the laughter, whispers, moans, and screams, screams, screams… everything so clear. Even now. And yet you…” suddenly the knight’s head shot up, and he stared at Hux. “…you… don’t feel them. _That’s it! You’re coming with me! _”

“I don’t wasn’t any part in this. I was brought here simply because the Supreme Leader thinks I’m going to plant a dagger in his back when he’s not looking.”

“Then this is your chance to prove him _wrong! _” the knight cried out and jumped up as if propelled by a hidden spring. 

Hux took a step back. “Why. Did something happen?” 

“You don’t…? Of course no-“

“_Yes_, I do have the force sensitivity of a rock, I know. Now get on with it, soldier.” Hux interrupted him impatiently, forgetting for a moment it was a Knight of Ren he spoke to. 

The knight let out a broken laugh. “But General. Here on this planet, even _the rocks_ are force sensitive. Even the seafoam floating on water, even the gravel beneath your feet.”

“Then I really _am_ the dullest creature on this planet.” Hux suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. “In spite of that, you seem to think I might be able to help the Supreme Leader out of whatever quagmire he got himself in, so how about you _get to the **point**_ already.”

The knight bit his lip, gazed towards the shore and blanched. In fact, his cheeks were positively ashen. Those strange eyes of his flickered there and back as if they tried to follow the movements of a multitude of objects. Hux also noticed that his fists were clenched tightly enough for their knuckles to turn white, and even so they still shook. 

He realised it brought him great satisfaction, to see one of the knights in such state. 

Just then, man looked away from the sea and pierced the general with his eyes. 

“I heard that.” He remarked with a frown. 

At that point Hux became too weary of dealing with the tedious man, and so he merely shrugged. 

“So what? Am I supposed to feel _sorry_ for you? After so many times you did as you pleased on my ship, blatantly disregarding protocol? After you publicly disrespected my rank? After you used the accursed force on me when I’ve told _him_ the truth someone should’ve told him ages ago?”

“_You have no idea what Master went through! You have no idea what **we all** were forced to endure. _” the knight snarled, baring his teeth. 

It left Hux unimpressed. 

“And _you_ have no idea what_ I_ had to go through. So kindly shut up and take me to where Ren is, if you want me to save his troublesome hindquarters.”

The knight clenched his fists even tighter… but then he calmed down, surprisingly enough. 

“It’s Pollkov Ren, by the way. You keep thinking of me - of _us_ \- as _ ‘the Knights_’. But we’re all different.” He grumbled quietly. “You can’t really compare one to another.”

“As long as _you Knights_ act like my crew and I are so much beneath you, I’ll refuse to see you as anything but _The Knights_.” Hux retorted. 

_The Knight_ pursed his lips together, but didn’t talk back. 

Hux savoured this moment. 

A memory appeared then. One of the unpleasant ones.

It happened years ago. Shortly after he gained the rank of a captain. 

Snoke had ordered the _Finalizer_ and two other Star Destroyers to visit a certain planet within the Unknown Regions and subjugate it, but this order came much too soon after a very unpleasant clash with one of the nether-cultist fleets the Unknown Regions teemed with. And in his foolishness, Hux had refused. He had diverted his ship towards the nearest First Order friendly docks, suggested the other two to do likewise, _and then_ moved against the planet. 

They won, of course. No matter how outlandish their beliefs or how horrifying the sacrifices they’ve offered to the stars, the strangers’ weaponry couldn’t hold a candle to Hux’s designs. 

Yet when he had boarded the _Supremacy_ to announce his victory, Snoke berated him for the departure from his explicit orders and Hux’s delay in carrying them out. 

Hux tried to explain himself but the relatively new Supreme Leader did not care. 

His knees had suddenly buckled and painfully hit the floor. Two knights appeared by his side, and each grabbed his forearm. Another then followed with a vibroknife in his hand. He cut Hux’s jacket and undertunic open, not caring he left a long scratch on the skin as well, beading with crimson. And then another joined in, though Hux didn’t see this one. He wasn’t aware of his presence until the lash left its first angry mark on his back. 

By the time Snoke had deemed the punishment sufficient, Hux couldn’t even kneel without a support. He had passed out and awoke almost a full cycle later at the infirmary. 

The thought that this Pollkov Ren could’ve been one of those who had held him, or even the one with the lash filled him with disgust. He didn’t care whether the knight could see his thoughts or not. He would’ve even_ preferred_ for this knight to see. To know that every action has its consequences. 

“Ah… this way.” The knight said rather sheepishly. 

He pointed up the shoreline. 

They set off. Coarse black gravel crunched beneath their feet. Hux kept glancing up. The clouds looked like they were going to release a veritable flood on their heads, and soon, but this was how they looked ever since his arrival. He wondered whether they were alive as well, and if it was, perhaps, already raining. Raining _souls_, or _consciousnesses_ or whatever the knight had been alluding to. He knew he should’ve been horrified, but found himself not caring all that much. After all, that Sith witch who had caused all this was light-years behind him, at least in the casualty department. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what had drove her to do this. 

_ (Sometimes he had to wonder what drove **him**. He had to do it. He knew. Everything was at stake. This was a show of power. The power and might of the First Order. He did absolutely not suffer nightmares of being a helpless orphan on Arkanis, watching a bright beam engulf his planet and feeling the ground beneath his feet come apart. It was just. It was only just. The Republic had cost them so many brilliant minds. Tarkin. Galen Erso and all those brilliant scientists of the Tarkin Initiative. Orson Krennic. Jude Edivon. So many bright minds who could’ve brought light into this galaxy…)_

They treaded the tideline, and Hux found his ankles caressed by the briny sea once more. He wondered whether he ought to request a shore leave and return to Arkanis just… just to see how… 

_ (How what? Are you stupid? First Order is your only concern.)_

_(But still…)_

_(Still - **what**?)_

_(I’m a human. A normal human, unlike **them**. To deny this would be foolish. In order to succeed, one has to know one’s strengths **and** weaknesses. Ren refused to do so, and that’s why it’s up to the ‘weak’, force-null me to save him.) _

The voice did not speak up again. 

Eventually they arrived at the entrance to a cave, framed by countless hexagonal columns of porous basalt, overgrown by some kind of garishly yellow moss. The knight then collapsed onto the gravel, haemorrhaging from the nose badly enough for the blood to seep through no matter how hard he tried to stem its flow. 

Looking away from such a boring display of discomfort, Hux noticed the other knights nearby. 

There they were, the helmets he remembered with the heads of their owners stuck inside. All of them lying at his feet, unable to stand up, where he, a _weakling_ in their eyes, had nary a problem. The worst he felt was some sort of hum in his ears, similar to an old-fashioned white noise he used to hear on the most antiquated of frequencies he had stumbled across in the deepest recesses of the Unknown Regions. 

He entered the cave, turning his flashlight on as he walked. The corridor weaved and turned, and no matter how smooth its curves were, all of them were lined by the same sharp hexagonal columns as the entrance. 

Eventually the corridor begun to descend and with that its temperature rose, just like inside the stepwell. Hux passed one last collapsed knight, and then the relatively straight terrain broke into a steep slope. 

At the bottom he found a dome-like cavern, and within it, on a spacious altar, lay the Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. 

Right next to his head, in the dead-centre of that smooth platform, was something akin to an egg hewn out of crystal, floating effortlessly above the smooth stone surface. It seemed to have been filled by a yellowish glow, constantly disturbed by the movement of myriads of tiny black specks. Looking at it made Hux’s head hurt, but he did not care. 

He strode over to the black-haired man and rolled him onto his back. His body was still warm. His arteries pulsed in accordance with that erratic heart of his. 

“Supreme Leader. What is your status?” The General asked. 

There was no answer, not even the slightest reaction. 

“Ren. Answer me. What am I supposed to do? This force nonsense is beyond me.”

Still nothing. Ren lay on his back, his eyes opened wide and glossy. 

“I can’t get you out of here on my own, so don’t complain about this.” Hux stated and extended his monomolecular blade. 

From his own experience he knew that pain was the fastest way to right one’s attitude. He grabbed the dagger in one hand and opened Ren’s robes with the other, undoing them just enough to see a sliver of the collar bones, to see the hollow of the throat. There he put the tip of his dagger. 

It would only take one push and one tug, and he could open Ren’s windpipe and let him bleed out on the platform, like a sacrifice practised by some of the more primitive civilisations of the galaxy. Perhaps Ren would even approve. He _did_ have a thing for theatrics after all. 

“…it would serve you right.” Hux mumbled as he weighted the pros and cons of putting the Supreme Leader out of his misery. 

The tip of his blade rested against Ren’s clammy skin, but eventually Hux came to the conclusion that he does not care to see him dead, at least not by his hand, no matter how attractive the thought was. He could still remember all too well the chaos of the early days of First Order, when its leadership kept changing every few couple of months. They had been very close to a breaking point back then, when infighting almost drove the feuding sides to mutual annihilation. 

Perhaps he ought to sheath the knife, he thought to himself. 

(Behind him, an almost imperceptible vibration ran through the egg. Those floating black specks pressed against their crystal shell and grew in size or coalesced, perhaps, so they gained the look of spreading ink blots or palm-prints.)

But on second thought, there would be no infighting if he’d show the Order, the whole galaxy, that he was the strongest of all. He could slowly plunge the blade into Kylo Ren’s heart and splay him open for everyone to see. Where is the Force? Can you see it anywhere in there? It wasn’t inside the heart, so will it be found inside the liver? Let’s slice it up so we can look. Is it wrapped around the intestines? Let’s pull them out and examine their every inch. How about those eyes, those lips, the marrow of his bones? 

He could almost hear the cheers of billions of applauding voices. They came not from the holonet-bound sky, but out of the ground beneath Hux’s feet. _Strongest! Strongest! Strongest is the Blood Imbuer made flesh! All hail him! Bare your throats and open them with your fingernails! Become the flowers of flesh and blood, and shower him with yourselves! Carnations for the new age! _He could see a vivid picture of himself stark-naked, covered in blood from head to toe, sucking Ren’s bones dry. He could see the intoxicated look on his own face, stemming from the pleasure he took from performing the ritual. The pleasure, the throbbing pleasure which manifested itself so prominently between his thighs, glistening wetly with Ren’s blood. 

Hux shuddered. With want, with disgust, with horror, with joy - he wasn’t sure. But one thing he was certain of. 

This… _image_, or what it was; that didn’t come from him, since he’d never let himself become a part of something that dirty.

The last vestiges of hold the vision had over him were burned off by anger, and Hux almost fell onto the floor. His stomach twisted with revulsion as he turned around and gave the crystal egg a look of pure hatred. 

He knew. He _knew_ that whatever was inside had performed these rituals a long time ago, and now it tried to pull _him_ down to its level. Tried to imbrute him, make him little more than a dumb beast with the yoke of pleasure around his neck. 

“You picked the wrong person, scum.” He growled. 

He wanted to grab it, but as soon as his gloved fingers touched the surface, strange, whirling pain imploded inside of his skull, and blood burst out of his nose. He wiped it off, too angry to care, and looked around. 

_Ren. Yes, of course. That will be perfect. _

He rolled the Supreme Leader over, undid his cloak and threw it over the egg. 

A strange sound resembling the soft tapping of thousands of fingers filled the air. 

“Should’ve used your head before you acted.” Hux said as he tied the ends of the cape together. “I will not become _a plaything_ to a horde of primitive savages, who were dim-witted enough to fall in love with their own damn guts.” He continued as he grabbed the knot.

Ren didn’t even stir as the egg was removed from his presence, but as Hux, still haemorrhaging from his nose, passed the collapsed knights, they all started to writhe on the floor, clutch their heads, and moan and bleat like tortured animals. He paid them no heed. He knew _exactly_ what he wanted to do with the egg. 

Wasting no time, he set off immediately in the direction of the cluster of deformed trees. 

The world became strange. 

The acid-yellow moss covering the basalt columns at the entrance to the cave expanded and contracted as if the rock itself was diseased. Sea churned and boiled, its waves elongated and shot ropes of foam towards the shore. The air became dense and warm, it whirled and raised countless dust devils of highly improbable shapes, and someplace deep, the very ground groaned in a disturbingly sentient fashion. 

“Should’ve used your head before you acted…” Hux repeated, muttering to himself as he reached the edge of the stepwell. 

The black inside of it was as featureless as ever, but somehow Hux got the impression of a gigantic maelstrom, of water trying to escape from a contaminant of sorts. 

He grabbed the knot of the cloak with both hands and swung it. It traced a graceful arc and fell directly into the black opening. 

And everything went still. 

Clouds of dust, up until then raised and chased around by the wind, fell to the ground, which became as silent as ground ought to be. The sound of waves stopped completely. 

Then, all around Hux, trees began to topple and fall, the arid soil around their roots so soft and loose, it was a wonder they had managed to stay upright for as long as they did. The clouds above turned from grey into a sickly shade of yellow, and their previous featheriness gave way to a jarring flatness. 

_The idea_ of movement remained, however. 

Hux stared at the opening of the stepwell. There was a satisfied smile on his lips. He didn’t know how, but he knew he just killed the planet, and these ghosts of movement he felt in the air, those were just its post-mortem spasms. 

And then something came out of the opening. 

At first he thought it was a bubble of sorts, but it kept growing, rising, climbing up the walls. Like yeasty dough, like lava, although it didn’t give off any heat or scent. Its colour was charcoal grey, the colour of Hux’s uniform, its texture coarse and filled with obsidian-like fragments.

Hux turned around and left. Something told him this wouldn’t stop until all of the planet became submerged in that odd substance. 

By the time he returned to the cave, his nose stopped bleeding, though his jacket was completely soiled and his head a fraction too light for comfort. The Knights of Ren did not fare much better. They started to come around, but were still in an obvious daze. Some were merely sprawled on the ground, rolling on the gravel and twitching, while others tried to stand up with about as much success as new-born kod’yoks. Hux scoffed and strode into the very bowels of the cave, where Ren…

…still lay without any movement. 

Hux walked up to him. He knew that the Supreme Leader’s consciousness was starting to return. He just needed to _accelerate_ the process a little bit, before the slow destruction of the planet would catch up with them.

He climbed up on the altar and straddled Ren’s supine form. The fact that this closely resembled the sickening vision he had received didn’t faze him much. He took his gloves off, raised his hand and slapped Ren so hard his palm smarted. And then once more, from the other side. 

Ren’s eyes fluttered open, but he seemed as dazed as his knights, perhaps even more so. Just like on Starkiller, Hux couldn’t drag him to safety with his own devices. He needed something potent enough to wake him up. 

A smile appeared on his lips yet again. 

He lowered himself to sit on the Supreme Leader, positioning himself so Ren’s hips, his groin, were directly beneath him. He wasn’t opposed to the idea of having Ren between his thighs, having always found his striking looks attractive, but the whole self-proclamation as the new Supreme Leader, followed by choking and bouts of brute violence, soured the hazy covetousness into little more than malice and grudge. 

Nevertheless, no matter how much he wanted to hurt, to _kill_ the man, he wasn’t depraved enough to consider that blood-drenched vision even remotely titillating. 

He sank even lower, so his blood-stained chest was flush with Ren’s, and allowed himself a brief moment to revel in the sheer bulk which was at his mercy. He could’ve stabbed Ren. Could’ve strangled him. Could’ve sunk his teeth in Ren’s windpipe until he’d squeeze all life from him like a narglatch. But he did none of those things. 

Instead, he swept a lock of hair away from Ren’s ear and whispered right into it. 

“They gave you visions as well, right? Of course they did. I wonder what they made you see… but that doesn’t matter. Do you know what they wanted me to do? They wanted me to eviscerate you and have my way with your corpse. Sickening, right? And this is the sort of stuff you pursue, Supreme Leader, instead of leading the First Order like you ought to. This is why I hate you. And this is why you’ve ended up like this. Now, I have two options. You might know what’s happening with the planet, you might not. So let me say it out loud. If you’re strong enough, surrender your lips and I might save you. If you’re not, or if you’re unwilling to follow my instructions, stay still and I’ll leave you behind to share this planet’s fate. What do you say?”

Ren’s eyes suddenly gained a dangerously sharp gleam. Hux felt something brush against the skin of his blood-smeared throat, but the sensation was more akin to gossamer rather than the vice-like grip he had grown accustomed to. 

Still. 

Still - Ren’s lips parted. 

Hux paused. For a moment he was entranced by all that beauty. Ren’s hair, pitch-black in the gloom of the cave, spread like petals of a blooming chrysanthemum or a thistle. His eyes, cautious and fierce. His nose, so regal. His lips. Parted. Expecting. Though he despised the Supreme Leader, he also didn’t want to keep him waiting. 

And so he claimed those lips. 

He didn’t have the clearest idea of what he was doing, but trusted his body to figure out the rest. The limp form of Ren beneath him became gradually suffused by a current of strength. Arms wrapped themselves around his waist and pulled him closer. Tongue intruded in his mouth, its warm, wet slide unlike anything he had ever felt before. He panicked for a moment, not knowing what to do, but hands rubbing circles into his back calmed him down. 

He relaxed. 

_You **enjoy** this. Me. _ A voice stated. 

_Yes_. He admitted. _I do. _

Ren’s eyes grew wide and he pulled away. Hux frowned. Was the Supreme Leader really that opposed to the idea of him experiencing pleasure?

“You… can use the Force.” Ren said, and Hux just stared. 

“What? No, you are mistaken.”

“When I said that you’ve enjoyed the kiss, I only thought it. And you answered me the same way.“

“No.”

“You… the Eye of the Son is gone. Even _I_ could barely touch it. The power inside. So unparalleled. Too powerful for those strong in the ways of the Force. Too poisonous. I thought it could help me understand. Find out where grandfather had come from. But I was mistaken. It had no answers, only malice, greed, lust, and Sith witchcraft.”

“No, stop it.” Hux shook his head. 

“And you touched it as well. No; you did more than that. I can see now. You did what they didn’t find possible. You used their own weapons against them. The rage, the hate. Vindictiveness. It created a link, a curse, a blessing. Made you aware of the _flow_.” 

“No, you’re wrong, be silent.”

“How does it feel like? You probably don’t even realise - yet. But you will. I can teach you. Show you the basics. I would make you a Knight, but I can sense you distaste for them. Damn Snoke and his punishments. But not all is lost. I can show you how to delve into the current, how to feel the lives of others and their lights. You coul-“

Hux had enough. He didn’t want to listen anymore. This was nonsense. There was no way he wanted to be associated with this witchcraft in any way. What made the world go ‘round were science, progress, and order. Something as antiquated and obscure as the Force had no place in the galaxy anymore. The time of knights and sorcerers had passed hundreds of years ago.

And he absolutely loathed the way Ren’s eyes lit up, as if he considered Hux worthy of his attention only now, once he was _infected_ by that thing.

The vision from before flashed in front of his mind’s eye. 

His stomach knotted with revulsion. 

He hated this. 

He felt as if he was being splayed open and studied, like some malformed orray foetus. 

He had to shut Ren up. 

Before the Supreme Leader could say another word, Hux pressed his lips against Ren’s once more, but this time the kiss was nowhere near as unhurried and exploratory as before. He tried to slide his tongue in Ren’s mouth, and Ren let him. To his ire, Hux could _sense_ Ren’s growing arousal, an almost predatory need to make the General _his._

_Shut up! Just shut up about the stars-damned force nonsense! _ Hux screamed in his mind. 

Ren’s hand moved on the back of Hux’s neck, and he deepened the kiss; but only for a moment. 

_You can’t initiate this without expecting consequences_. Hux could hear Ren’s words within his mind as the damned force user tore his jacket open and caressed his lower lip with the tip of his tongue, before moving downwards. 

Hux wanted to tell the dear Supreme Leader to kriff off and die, but he found himself bereft of all words, for Ren’s lips found his throat, and the tip of his tongue flicked over his jugular. And when Ren gently bit his clavicle, he knew he was lost. 

He relaxed, and Ren took the opportunity to flip their positions, so he was on top and Hux below, bracketed by his elbows and knees. 

“These are the consequences.” Ren growled.

“Will they keep me safe from you taking your anger out on me?” Hux asked softly.

Ren stopped immediately and stared at him with a rather startled expression. With _guilt_. 

“I… I’m sorry. I’ll try to be gentler with you.” He muttered.

Their lips met again. This time it was Ren who initiated the kiss. It was soft and tender, and accompanied by Ren’s big hands caressing Hux’s sides, before moving upwards to the opening of the torn jacket. 

Ren kept kissing him while flooding his mind with reassurances. Once the pads of his fingers slid over Hux’s right pectoral and found his hardening nipple, Hux tried - and failed - to suppress a moan. Something akin to an electric current rushed through him. 

_You taste so sweet_… Ren’s sigh whispered in his consciousness. 

He broke the kiss and tried to glare at the man. 

“If you have something to say, say it out loud.” 

“Very well.” Ren replied, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “When you sat on top of me and whispered your hate into my ear, I had to use the Force to calm myself down so you wouldn’t find out how aroused I was. But there’s no need for that now, is there?” he said and sank down onto Hux, who felt the Supreme Leader’s hardness touch his groin. He could almost feel the heat through the layers of fabric separating them.

As Ren started to kiss a trail down his throat, he looked up at the ceiling of the cave. 

It was overgrown by some luminescent type of moss. Its glow was slowly but surely fading, a side effect of throwing that infernal thing into the well, most likely. 

He could scarcely believe he was lying on his back on a Sith altar, feeling Ren’s hot breath on his breastbone as the Supreme Leader flickered his tongue over his nipple. That his was the throat that released all those gasps and moans as a huge hand caressed and squeezed his groin while its fingers grasped the fly of his jodhpurs and slowly opened the zipper to explore the stiflingly hot space inside. 

It was strange. 

It was strange. 

The previous Supreme Leader had him whipped. Threw him around. Belittled him. 

The current one wasn’t much better, but once Hux has _contracted_ this force nonsense, suddenly his life started to matter. 

_No! _ -a voice exclaimed in his head, followed by the same word filling the cave. 

“No. You were never disposable.” Ren said and his mouth abandoned Hux’s underbelly with its trail of ginger hairs. 

He rolled them both over so they laid on their sides. The guilt was back in those dark eyes. 

“I… I always wanted to stand by your side. But Snoke called that a weakness. And I decided to believe him. You were always so distant, so brilliant. Like a star I can watch but never have. And when you started to hate me, I was happy. I thought this was the only way you’d ever think of me. So no matter how much pain I had to go through on this planet, I’m glad I’ve decided to visit it. Do you love me?”

That sudden question made something inside Hux knot. 

He knew that Ren would see through any lie, but worst of all, he didn’t know what was going on inside of his own head. There were so many conflicting emotions… he felt lost and adrift in the sea of them. 

“I… I don’t know. I don’t know. You’ve hurt me so many times…” 

At that point he was ready to pull back, and act as if none of this ever happened; because he would surely be hated for this. But then those big fingers of Ren’s caressed Hux’s cheek, and the Supreme Leader leaned in so their foreheads touched. This gesture was so intimate, it made Hux shudder. 

“Do I still have a chance?” Ren whispered. 

In spite of the pandemonium raging in Hux’s mind, this question required no contemplation. 

He nodded. Ever so slightly.

Ren’s lips curved into a small smile. 

Hux smiled back, but there was a sharp glint in his eyes. “I do hope your mouth is suited for greater things than hurling insults, Supreme Leader.”

Those words made Ren chuckle. 

“Very well. I’ll show you that the pleasure I can give you far outweighs the pain.” 

And with those words he rolled Hux over, pulled his jodhpurs down and freed his hardening length from the confines of the standard-issue underwear. As Ren’s lips touched the velvet-soft skin of the shaft and his tongue traced its throbbing vein, Hux sucked his breath in and tangled his fingers into the whorls of Ren’s dark hair. 

_I don’t care what you do, as long you stay with me afterwards, and hold me close_. He thought out loud, blushing as he did. It felt entirely too sentimental, but he couldn’t help it. He _had_ to convey this feeling to Ren; and using the force felt less embarrassing than if he were to say it out loud. 

“I will.” Ren replied and sucked a mark into the delicate alabaster skin of Hux’s inner thigh. 

Hux arched his back as Ren’s fingers began to explore his perineum and slide further down, gentle like the touch of a feather, but fervent like the heat of a star’s corona. He was overflowing, body and mind. It felt wonderful. 

Once the throes of passion died out, Ren pulled Hux close and caressed the damp skin of his shoulder-blade. The General fell asleep, exhausted by their tryst and his previous blood loss, but he himself was alert. He felt the consciousnesses of his knights, knew they’ve been privy to the lovemaking. It didn’t bother him. Their minds were linked to such extend, they shared one another’s fantasies. To Ren, it was one of the perks of being surrounded by like-minded individuals. 

The Knights now knew that the General was his. And that he belonged to Hux. He was aware of their opinions of the man, of their involvement in his punishments. He didn’t hold it against them, couldn’t really as he hasn’t been much better, but the thought that they were aware now, that _he_ was aware now - it made him feel incredibly at peace. He couldn’t remember the last time he was so calm and content, and it had nothing to do with the sex. Well, _almost_ nothing. 

_Master. We have to leave. Now. _ Grausing Ren’s voice came to him. 

_Yes, of course. Is the shuttle ready?_

_It is. Engines are hot and ready for lift-off. You sure you want to bring him, Kylo? _ Thoorwald Ren asked, disdain clear in his voice. 

_Yes. Yes… ah… you must’ve felt it as well. _

_I did. But Kylo. He’ll weaken you, and once that happens, he’ll stab your heart with a dagger and twist it. _

_That is Snoke talk, Thoorwald. This man has already weakened me - and I’ve felt never better. He… ah…_

_Makes you happy. _ Wahllia Ren added helpfully. 

Kylo smiled and nodded. He lifted the sleeping General into his arms and followed Grausing Ren out of the cave as it begun to melt around them. This world was collapsing onto itself. He was aware of that. But he also knew that it was not the end, for he - for _they_ have shown its consciousness a better way to live. 

As he boarded the shuttle, he realised their gloves were left behind, both his and Hux’s. It made him happy. He hoped that they’d serve as a reminder, while also making him able to intertwine his fingers with his lover’s. 

Inside the shuttle, he laid the General down onto a cot and pulled a blanket up to his chin. This was the start of a new chapter for the First Order. No more infighting. No more hate and regret. Whatever they would conquer they would rule together. 

He was prepared to do everything within his power to show Armitage a world full of beauty and joy. 

A world where they could both be happy. 

He climbed onto the bed next to Armitage and locked him within his embrace. Even though he was asleep, Hux sighed in content and buried his face in Kylo’s chest. 

And Kylo smiled. 

He planted a kiss on Hux’s forehead and followed him into the land of dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments will be greatly appreciated and imbibed like sweet, sweet wine.


End file.
